Our text for today is Proverbs 10:19
“When words are many, sin is unavoidable, but he who restrains his lips is wise.”
We recently did a proverb and talked about the “Yak-Yak” people. They will talk about what they are going to do but never follow up. Today’s proverb talks about the Yakety-Yakety people. These are folks who talk and talk but never say anything. They say what they think, whether they think or not.
I confess to having a tendency toward this fault. I know because when I get home, I sometimes think, “I wish I hadn’t said that.” Plato said, “Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something.” (Remember this quote and you will be able to quote Plato.)
I was married to a woman who was thought of as quiet. I noticed two things about her:
- When she said something, people cared and listened.
- In 55 years, I never heard her say, “I wish I hadn’t said that.”
Once, a man was talking to his young daughter as a truck approached their house. He asked her what she knew about the truck. She was stumped, so he told her, ‘The truck is empty, and we know this because an empty truck rattles the most.’
That is the meaning of our text today:
“When words are many, sin is unavoidable, but he who restrains his lips is wise.”
I’m Lonnie Davis
And these are thoughts worth thinking.